07 April 2016; Civitavecchia for Rome, Italy.

Last night we sailed by Stromboli and its volcano but there was no action. As it was overcast it was all pitch black and the only thing we could see were the lighthouses on the Main land and the little lighthouse on Strombolincino which is a little bump almost attached to the volcano on the east side where the ferries dock that  maintain the contact with the rest of the world. There was hardly any sulpher smell either and that was good, as when it enters the A.C. then the whole ship can enjoy the smell of rotten eggs. Not a good idea when you are just having dinner.

The Lido deck by night. As it is still chilly in the Med. the Dome was closed.

It also did not influence the movies under the stars in a negative way. We now have every night movies playing in the Lido Deck with the Dome open if it is nice weather and the dome closed if it is inclement. Last night’s offering was Mad Max Fury.

Close up: Mad Max driving into a Sand Storm.

Daybreak brought more sunshine and very little wind and that was pleasant for docking. We are docked at the north side terminal with the nose out and to accomplish this you have to swing inside and then back track again on to an outbound course. With the length of the Koningsdam it does work to swing in the basin as there is not much room for clearance and the more wind there is, the more you drift and the narrower it gets. Thus arrival was a pleasant affair with no wind of concern.  At the moment I am going with the 3^rd officer to the forward mooring deck to ensure we implement all the safe practices needed and required and that gave me a chance to observe the Italian linesmen who pull the ropes ashore. Linesmen nearly everywhere in the world are always convinced their work is too heavy, that the ships are giving out the wrong ropes and that the whole world is against them. And they yell and scream accordingly.  The only exception is probably Mexico and Costa Rica where they run with the ropes as if there is no tomorrow. So we had our “standard friendly exchange” with them and somehow the ropes got ashore and went where they had to go.

Nice new white head lines. 8 going forward and 2 going aft (not visible)

The number of ropes we put ashore and the configuration varies from port to port and in relation to the expected weather. If the ship is bigger it will give out more ropes as it can catch more wind than a smaller ship. The Koningsdam with the two extra Guest decks above the bridge can catch a lot of wind and thus we give out quite a few ropes.  Most rope configurations work on the 2+2 example. For the S- Class (Maasdam/ Veendam) 4 +2   = four headlines and two spring lines is considered enough. For the Koningsdam the standard configuration is, at a minimum, 6 and 2.   Six headlines under various angles to keep the ship alongside the dock and two spring lines to keep the ship from moving along the dock; as the latte would cause problems for the gangway and those on it. One spring forward and aft would be sufficient but in case a rope would break we use at least two.

A view from inside the mooring deck. The ropes are kept on a large drum and when brought tight switch to a small drum for better holding power.

But here in Civitavecchia we stay overnight and then company policy dictates to use more ropes just for the case of. Even if we keep perfect weather a few extra lines are required. And thus we went up to 8 & 2 for the night. On the mooring deck the whole layout then becomes a real spaghetti junction with the various directions the lines are going from their mooring drums. Giving out the lines are the Storekeeper Deck and 10 sailors. This group is supervised by the Bo’sun and the 3^rd Officer in charge. The last two are standing on the mooring platform to supervise inside and outside the ship, the store keeper and one sailor AB operate the winches from a heightened platform and the 8 sailors are hopping around to guide the mooring ropes to where they have to go. On the aft mooring deck something similar is going on, but there are two Asst. Bo ‘suns instead of a Bo’sun and a store keeper who run the show. This evening we will disembark all the people from the shipyard and then tomorrow morning all the guests/ company people who participated in the shakedown cruise. Then we will start our real first cruise which is a seven day loop around the south of Italy and back again. In the meantime those who were with us, still have the chance to sample Rome and surrounding area by taking the tours of which the last one will return around midnight.

This piece of art showed up only recently outside the Green House Spa. I assume the box ended up somewhere in the store rooms with a lot of other boxes.

I am ending again with a piece of art, which was installed during the last few days in the forward staircase, the blue round ball, it is not a world globe and therefore I have no clue in what it symbolizes. Eventually when I can read the description I will find out.